Reno 911 creators Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon must have a thing for men in hot pants. In this slapstick comedy about the sport with the tiniest balls, the scriptwriting duo blasts 80s metal, rolls out the one-liners and puts Christopher Walken in Elton John-meets-Queen-Amidala kimonos.
It’s the kind of formula that only works if everyone in it soars, and, stuffed into said shorts and sporting jagged muttonchops, Dan Fogler is balls-out funny as washed-out ping pong wunderkind Randy Daytona. After a dramatic fall from grace in the late 80s, Daytona is back in the game. He’d lost his father/coach, who gambled on a match and got pinged by the evil Feng (Walken). When FBI agent Rodriguez (George Lopez) makes it his mission to catch Feng, he enlists Randy to compete in a privately held tournament of champions at Feng’s lair.
Despite attempts to poke fun at its own exaggerated Asian fetishism, Balls of Fury serves up a typical West-meets-East gag sub-theme. In the Chinatown mafia-ridden core of the sport, “Ping pong is not played for trophies, but for hard cash in dark alleys and cheap, ugly women.” Though in Randy’s case a more becoming prize surfaces in the form of Maggie Wong (Maggie Q). Blind noodle shop owner and ping pong guru Master Wong (Richard Hong) does a fine twist on Mr. Miyagi, bringing the once-champ back to form. But, beyond its first hour, the film starts to dry out like a stinking sweatband. You’ll know you’ve had your fun once the balls begin flying with more frequency than laughs and all plot turns to putty.
Opens August 29
It’s the kind of formula that only works if everyone in it soars, and, stuffed into said shorts and sporting jagged muttonchops, Dan Fogler is balls-out funny as washed-out ping pong wunderkind Randy Daytona. After a dramatic fall from grace in the late 80s, Daytona is back in the game. He’d lost his father/coach, who gambled on a match and got pinged by the evil Feng (Walken). When FBI agent Rodriguez (George Lopez) makes it his mission to catch Feng, he enlists Randy to compete in a privately held tournament of champions at Feng’s lair.
Despite attempts to poke fun at its own exaggerated Asian fetishism, Balls of Fury serves up a typical West-meets-East gag sub-theme. In the Chinatown mafia-ridden core of the sport, “Ping pong is not played for trophies, but for hard cash in dark alleys and cheap, ugly women.” Though in Randy’s case a more becoming prize surfaces in the form of Maggie Wong (Maggie Q). Blind noodle shop owner and ping pong guru Master Wong (Richard Hong) does a fine twist on Mr. Miyagi, bringing the once-champ back to form. But, beyond its first hour, the film starts to dry out like a stinking sweatband. You’ll know you’ve had your fun once the balls begin flying with more frequency than laughs and all plot turns to putty.
Opens August 29
